Congress Passes Landmark Health, Energy, and Climate Law

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA-18) released the following statement today after President Biden signed into law HR 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“I was proud to vote in favor of this landmark legislation to help seniors and working families, a bill that will lower health and energy costs for millions of Americans. The IRA will also help curb climate change – reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and creating millions of new manufacturing and construction jobs in the process. Finally, it will also make corporations and the wealthy pay more of their fair share of taxes and reduce the national debt, which will also put downward pressure on inflation. I believe it’s a major victory for the people of Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.”

Saving Seniors Money

Once the Inflation Reduction Act is fully implemented, it is expected to save significant amounts of money each year for both the federal government and millions of seniors on Medicare by:

• Capping the price of insulin: More than 7 million Americans need the drug insulin to help treat their diabetes; insulin prices have risen dramatically in recent years – to10 times more than they were in the United States 23 years ago, and 10 times more than they are in other countries today – and many people with diabetes haven’t been able to afford it, resulting in devastating outcomes like blindness, organ failure, limb loss, and in some cases death. I believe that it’s outrageous that drug makers have been jacking up the price of insulin, a drug that was discovered 100 years ago. The Inflation Reduction Act would cap the price of insulin at $35 for seniors on Medicare. An amendment was offered in the Senate to extend the cap on the price of insulin to ALL Americans, but enough Republican Senators voted against it to defeat it.
• Allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices: Soaring prescription drug prices have hurt millions of American households by increasing their cost of living. Seniors living on fixed incomes have been particularly hard-hit, as the cost of their prescription drugs has increased even faster than inflation. The Inflation Reduction Act will allow Medicare to negotiate with drug makers for lower prescription drug prices for seniors enrolled in Medicare. It will also limit their drug price increases to the rate of inflation.
• Capping Medicare Part D out-of-pocket costs: More than a million Part D enrollees paid more than $2,000 out of pocket for prescription drugs in 2020.The IRA limits the maximum Part D out-of-pocket spending to $2,000 starting in 2025.  The Council for Informed Drug Spending Analysis has estimated that 3.5 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries would save more than $1,500 a year once this provision takes effect.
• Eliminating vaccine cost sharing: The Inflation Reduction Act will eliminate cost sharing for vaccines covered under Medicare Part D starting in 2023.

Keeping Affordable Care Act Exchanges Affordable

Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress approved legislation that reduced the cost of health insurance purchased through Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces like Healthcare.gov and Pennie.com (Pennsylvania’s ACA health insurance exchange), ensuring that more Americans could afford health insurance during the pandemic. The Inflation Reduction Act extends that premium support through 2025, preventing health insurance premiums from doubling for more than 13 million Americans.

Curbing Climate Change and Creating Jobs

The Inflation Reduction Act also makes the largest investment ever in eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning our economy to clean energy – which, as I indicated earlier, will reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. It will have the added benefit of revitalizing American manufacturing - and creating millions of manufacturing and construction jobs here in the USA.

 The IRA includes tax incentives for the adoption of carbon-free energy technology by both households and businesses, as well as substantial investments in conservation and clean manufacturing technology. It also invests in cleaning up pollution in communities that have suffered disproportionately from industrial activity in the past. These measures will, once fully implemented, reduce Pennsylvania families’ energy bills by up to $1,000 a year.

Improving the IRS and Making the Tax Code Fairer

Finally, the Inflation Reduction Act closes tax loopholes that have allowed corporations and the wealthy avoid paying their fair share, primarily by:

• Establishing a 15 percent corporate minimum tax:  Many large, profitable US corporations have paid little or no federal income tax in recent years, often by relying on corporate tax breaks to lower the amount they owe the federal government. The IRA will require companies that report over $1 billion in profits to shareholders to pay at least a 15 percent tax on the reported profits. I believe it’s only fair that Congress establishes an alternative minimum tax for corporations comparable to the one that already covers individuals.
• Imposing a 1 percent stock buyback tax:  In recent years, private companies have spent billions of dollars repurchasing stock from investors, which  drives up stock prices in boom markets but weakens corporations’ resilience in economic downturns – spurring market volatility, discouraging productive investments in workers and equipment, and increasing corporate CEOs’ compensation. I believe that by establishing a 1 percent tax on stock buybacks, the Inflation Reduction Act will reduce excessive stock buybacks and encourage more productive corporate investments in their businesses that actually increase their value rather than just manipulate their stocks’ market price.
• Investing more in IRS enforcement: Over the last ten years, funding for the IRS has declined by 15 percent after adjusting for inflation, and fewer people are employed by the IRS than at any time since 1974, nearly 50 years ago. As anyone who has tried to call the IRS help line recently knows, the IRS simply doesn’t have the staffing needed to provide the level of customer service the American public expects. As a result, IRS audits of individual tax returns dropped 72 percent between 2010 and 2019. Since these audits increase compliance with federal tax laws, a dramatic reduction in the number of audits can reduce the amount of income tax revenue the IRS collects; conversely, investing more money in IRS enforcement will bring in more tax revenue. In a recent letter from IRS Commissioner Rettig, the Administration promised Congress that the IRS won't increase audits of households making less than $400,000 per year.

“I believe the Inflation Reduction Act is historic major legislation that will lower health and energy costs for millions of Americans, make significant inroads in curbing climate change, create millions of good new jobs, and make federal tax laws fairer,” Congressman Doyle said today.

Click here for more information about the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Senate approved HR 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act, on a party-line vote of 51 to 50 on August 7, with all Democratic Senators voting for it and the Vice President casting the deciding vote. On August 12, the House passed the Inflation Reduction Act with my support by a vote of 220 to 207, sending the legislation to the White House, where President Biden signed it into law on August 16.